The PosticumĪside from the main door, there was a servants’ entrance, the posticum, usually positioned at the side of the house. (Although one must consider that Roman families were generally enlarged families, including several generations.) Vestibulum and FaucesĪ Roman house did not open directly onto the road, but into a small passage way, the vestibulum, the corridor which led from the main door onwards into the atrium was called the fauces. The typical Roman house was, in general, only occupied by one family. Rooms were designed for one specific purpose only, the triclinium being for dining, a cubiculum for sleeping, etc.Īn interesting thing to note about the layout of the Roman house, is that the names given to the front part of the house around the atrium are Latin, whereas those in the back are largely Greek. The house was normally only built on the ground floor, and if there was a first floor, it was small and limited to few rooms. Meaning it generally had no windows at all, but drew its air and light from the openings of the atrium and peristylium. So much so, that when the Romans built their houses in northern Italy or the northern European provinces, they adopted a system of heating, circulating warm air under the floors and along the walls. The Roman house is very much a house built for the people of southern Europe. Further to the impluvium there was an underground tank connected to it which could catch any excess rainwater. In the atrium a small pool, the impluvium would catch the rainwater, whereas in the peristylium, the rain would water the plants. They were open to the sky, letting fresh air in to circulate among the corridors and rooms. ![]() The atrium and the peristylium were perfect adaptions to the heat of the Mediterranean. The peristylium having developed out of the earlier hortus. The first part grouped around the atrium, the second around the peristylium. The classic Roman house, however, was divided into two parts. Early Italian houses grouped around the atrium, with a small garden, the so-called hortus, at the back.
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